00:00The highest court in our land has made a decision today on affirmative action, and I feel compelled to speak about it.
00:10And I'm sure that I share the sentiment and the feeling of everyone in this room in terms of the deep disappointment.
00:22I encourage everyone, by the way, to read the dissenting opinion of Justice Gitanji Brown-Jackson.
00:30I encourage you to read it because she is a beautiful writer who is compelled by logic and a knowledge of history
00:44and a clarity of thinking about where we have been as a country and where we have the potential to go.
00:53And what she so rightly has articulated, as I take away from her writing and the way I feel about it,
01:00is the disappointment is because this is now a moment where the court has not fully understand the importance
01:12of equal opportunity for the people of our country.
01:18And it is in so very many ways a denial of opportunity.
01:24And it is a complete misnomer to suggest this is about colorblind,
01:31when in fact it is about being blind to history, being blind to data, being blind to empirical evidence
01:43about disparities, being blind to the strength that diversity brings to classrooms, to boardrooms.
01:53That's right.
01:53So, Tishana, I thank you for giving me this moment to just speak on that.
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